Then on St. Clair, very few of the bike racks that were uprooted for the TTC construction have been replaced.

Unfortunately, the same thing has happened after the Mink Mile redesign. Many a dandy has walked up and down this tony section of Bloor desperately trying to find a place to lock up their bike, searching in vain until it seems the valet parking at Pusateri’s might be the only option.

Only problem: The new even-more-bike-friendly street is filling up with so many cyclists shopping and dining, the spots are gone too quickly to keep up with demand.

One solution: There’s new street furniture on Ronces where one can lock up their bike; the fancy new tree guards (and of course, the old standards; fences, sign posts, streetlights etc.)

The Roncesvalles BIA is encouraging cyclists to use the new tree guards to lock up to. The guards were installed specifically to ensure the health of the trees. They’re very sturdy, and already well used.

Photo by Tammy Thorne

John Bowker, parking and beautification chair for the Roncesvalles BIA said, “There has been a huge spike in the demand for bike parking in recent years. When we have counted, we have regularly found many more bikes parked along Roncesvalles than cars. Even though the BIA has more than doubled the bike parking capacity along the street, we still have not yet seen a plateau in demand.”

There have been requests for additional bike parking in specific sections of Roncesvalles by business owners and customers alike, but demand for bike parking is high everywhere on Roncesvalles…and in most parts of the city’s core for that matter.

…

In a twist of fate only two-wheeling Torontonians could fully appreciate, our city’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) recently put in place legislation that seems contrary to these good neighbourhood initiatives.

This is the exact wording below from proposed amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 441 and 743 re: use of Streets and Sidewalks:

P. No person shall, without prior authorization from the General Manager, chain, lock or otherwise attach any article or thing to a waste receptacle, streetlight, parking meter, utility pole, transit shelter, fence, tree or any other municipal property or authorized encroachment that is located in a street, and any article or thing that remains attached for more than 24 consecutive hours may be removed by the General Manager and disposed of pursuant to Article XVIII.

Many of the city’s bylaws still exist from before amalgamation and are now in the process of being “harmonized.” The city is apparently now working on a rewording of this harmonized and amended version of the bylaw.

Basically, the purpose of this bylaw amendment is to allow for the removal of “things” like shopping carts, A-frame signs, and yes, derelict bicycles; but not bicycles in “good working order”. It should also be noted that the city is not adding any staff to expand its level of clean up. They typically do a big clean up of derelict bikes in April. The city also takes complaints from people requesting a bike removal and the protocol is to tag the bike, wait a week and if it’s no one’s claimed it, staff will remove it.

Is this “thing” legally locked under the newly amended bylaw? Photo by Tammy Thorne

City staff claim this does not mean there will be a reduction in bike parking spots but the reality is that bike racks aren’t being installed apace with the growing number of cyclists in the city, nor are they being replaced after street construction projects. The amended bylaw seems to be adding insult…

Overall, the city is undergoing some big changes in their bylaws in an effort to amalgamate all the different municipalities rules into one.

Bike boxes, cycle tracks and sharrows are examples of new bike facilities that have emerged in North American cities during the recent bicycle renaissance. Now you can add another: bike corrals. They may be old hat in Europe, but they’re the latest thing in Montreal, Vancouver, Portland and a host of other cities.

Bike corrals typically replace one or two on-street car parking spaces with parking for up to 20 bikes. The newly created space is often differentiated with paint, or physically separated by bollards or concrete curbs.

Given that bike corrals usually involve removing on-street parking – a hotly contested issue for the business community who see parking as key to their financial well-being – what is the likelihood of widespread adoption? And how will they fit into Toronto’s bicycle route network?

Like with so many other new cycling initiatives, Portland, Oregon is the trailblazer when it comes to bike corrals, having installed 64 throughout the city at last count. In fact, Portland’s bike corrals have been so successful that the City has a backlog of more than 50 requests by local businesses to install a nearby corral. In Canada, both Montreal and Vancouver are ahead of Toronto, each with about 20 and 10 corrals, respectively.

Toronto installed a bike corral as a pilot project in July 2010 on the east side of Spadina Avenue north of Queen Street. Two parking spots accommodating 16 bikes were separated from car traffic with flexible bollards. Though the corral was removed in November to allow for winter snow clearing, the pilot was deemed a success. A City survey of the public and the tenants in the buildings fronting the corral found the experiment popular with cyclists and nearby businesses. The survey also showed that cyclists chose bike corrals over other options closer to their final destination. This is consistent with the Vancouver experience, where some cyclists will choose a corral even though they were parking up to two blocks away from their stopping point.

The City of Toronto plans to reinstall the corral on Spadina this summer, though it will likely require official Council approval first. The business community in nearby Kensington Market has also asked City staff to install a couple of bike corrals near the Augusta-Nassau intersection. Kensington Market is a major destination for cyclists, and bicycles can end up locked to all manner of objects due to a shortage of parking.

If we want to see more bike corrals in our cities, communicating the benefits of these facilities to the public and private businesses will be a vital first step. Similar to Toronto, the City of Vancouver began with a pilot site at the corner of East 6th Avenue and Commercial Drive last summer. The City chose the site because there was high demand for bike parking, but low demand for car parking. The City approached nearby businesses, which were supportive of the idea of a bike corral.

Thus far, Vancouver’s pilot bike corral is well-used, and the City has received only positive feedback. According to Ross Kenny, a city project engineer, business owners view the new bike corral as a benefit for their business and a public amenity with advantages beyond more customers visiting their shops. “Business owners saw people using it who weren’t going to their business, but going to another store, two blocks away, or hopping on the bus, and they were fine with that,” Kenny recalls.

Bike corrals can unite bike and pedestrian advocates because moving bikes off of the sidewalk, especially in busy commercial areas and on older streets with narrow sidewalks, frees up space to walk, to install a bench or to plant more trees.

Shops, restaurants, cafés, grocery stores and other businesses all like the idea of putting a bike corral in front of their business because they attract attention, by extension provide them with an eco-friendly image and because it can free up sidewalk space for a patio or outdoor display space. It also creates a more varied, attractive and inviting public realm. In Portland, businesses also say they like the fact they’ll never have a big truck parked in front of their store. All of these factors can increase their exposure, customer base and overall sales.

A Portland State University study (PDF) surveyed local businesses to understand the impact, benefits and attitudes associated with the city’s bike corrals, the first of which was installed in 2004. The study found, with very few exceptions, that businesses within a half-block of a bike corral were supportive of the structures. Responses also suggested businesses believed the bike corrals meet a latent demand for bike parking, thus generating additional bike trips to commercial areas.

Back in Vancouver, the City has received numerous requests for bike corrals, and the outlook for expanding the program is encouraging. Vancouver businesses can request bike corrals in front of their location if they agree to regularly sweep the corral to keep it free of debris. (Once installed, City street sweepers can no longer access the area.) Vancouver is extending its one pilot project to add more than ten corrals as part of the city’s new separated bike lanes along Dunsmuir and Hornby streets downtown.

Installing bike corrals in the right areas is good city planning. Scarce public space can be used more efficiently, allowing as many as ten times more bicycles to be parked in the space that would otherwise accommodate one car. Installing bike corrals is also relatively cheap compared to other types of street improvements (estimated at between $1,000 and $4,000 per corral in Portland and Vancouver, depending on the design), and can provide a good return on investment to local businesses. In Toronto, however, there is the added cost of removing the corrals for winter and reinstalling them in the spring. Opponents to bike corrals could also point out the potentially lost revenue that the Toronto Parking Authority will forego when those spots are converted.

Successful implementation of bike corrals in Toronto will depend on businesses and local councillors understanding their benefits. And on streets where parking lanes become travel lanes at rush hour, there will be additional challenges. On the Bloor-Danforth corridor, for instance, Bloor West Village has parking lanes that could accommodate bike corrals, but in narrower sections – like the Annex – implementation may prove more difficult.

Bike corrals are just one of the mix of initiatives that city planners, Business Improvement Areas and other city builders have at their disposal to create more bike-friendly communities. But unlike bike lane proposals that often face stiff opposition, bike corrals have proven to be much less controversial and often have the support of the business community. It makes economic sense to improve the public realm near commercial areas by promoting the efficient use of parking space to accommodate more customers. On-street bike corrals will also raise the visibility of cycling in general and reinforce its status as a legitimate form of transportation. Bike corrals make sense for businesses and customers alike. It’s time Toronto took advantage of these benefits.

Source: Meisel, D., Bike Corrals: Local Business Impacts, Benefits, and Attitudes, Portland State University School of Urban Studies, 2010.

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EDs note: The Roncesvalles community recently installed sturdy gates to preserve the health of the newly planted trees on their street and are now encouraging cyclists to lock up to the tree gates, as demand for bicycle parking continues to rise in this part of town (and all over the city.) Read more here. For more on bike corrals in Toronto see our interview with Jesse Demb of Cycling Infrastructure & Programs at City of Toronto Transportation Services: Toronto’s Bike Corral Pilot Expands to Kensington Market and our Kensington Market bike parking Bike Spotting: What’s Bike Parking in Kensington Market Like?

]]>http://dandyhorsemagazine.com/blog/2011/12/15/corralling-business-support-for-bike-parking/feed/0Rock ’em Sock ’em City Hall: Adam Vaughanhttp://dandyhorsemagazine.com/blog/2011/11/03/rock-em-sock-em-city-hall/
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Councillor Adam Vaughan in his City Hall office, with a painting by Mike Parsons called OMB Squared: one million bodies, one massive building; and a Don Cherry doll wearing a pink blazer and “pinko” button from Spacing.

Adam Vaughan includes “bike-riding pinkos” among his friends and family.

So when outspoken hockey commentator Don Cherry made belligerent comments about “bike-riding pinkos” and “left wing kooks” during the inauguration of the new mayor, Adam Vaughan turned away.

“I don’t really care about Don Cherry that much,” says the City Councillor for Trinity-Spadina. “He’s a character. He is what he is. But there is a time and place for taking shots at people. Even Cherry would tell you –- you don’t punch someone in an all-star game. And you don’t sucker punch. I’m not afraid of Don Cherry. I’ll debate him any time any place. He’s just another guy with an opinion,” says Vaughan.

“It’s not for him to do that,” says Vaughan of Cherry’s targeted verbal missives. “He’s allowed to add his voice, but can’t disqualify other people’s perspectives. And when he starts identifying journalists and bike riders as pinkos and as being the enemy -– he’s talking about family and friends and perhaps more importantly, constituents and voters and, at the end of the day, taxpayers.”

Vaughan says it wouldn’t have been appropriate to interrupt him either. “I’m not going to stand up and debate, that wasn’t on the table because he’s not a member of council. So I just turned my back on him and said, ‘I’m not listening.’”

Cyclists are now listening for any word on the Bike Plan from City Hall. Desperate for a champion as infrastructure and committees start to crumble this spring –- the cycling community has an ally in Vaughan. A lifelong city cyclist who unabashedly puts pedestrians first, Vaughan says cyclists have to stop picking fights with everybody.

“The most important alliance that must be struck is between pedestrians and cyclists. When you look at the high-water mark of strong cycling infrastructure it is always partnered with pedestrians and pedestrian-friendly streets. Always. So, the question is: How do you create a stronger pedestrian environment?”

“When you start building streets that are better for pedestrians, you start building bike lanes with them -– they’re part and parcel together I think, and this is part of that complete streets process,” Vaughan says, adding that bike trails in suburban ravines largely don’t serve a commuter function. “While I understand the simplicity of the approach in the suburbs, I have yet to see a sophisticated conversation on anybody’s front as to how things will roll out in the downtown core. Downtown, the streets are built for people. Bicycles predated cars — arriving more or less at the same time as the streetcar — so it’s really a question of how we rebalance the equation.”

Vaughan says when people accuse him of perpetuating the so-called ‘war on the car’ his retort is often: “Stop the war on people.”

A big proponent of pedestrianization -– his ward is host to popular Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, which had a brief offshoot in Mirvish Village in 2007 and 2008 – Vaughan is pushing for the pedestrianization of John street and wouldn’t rule out parts of Bloor Street either. He cited the Clean Air Partnership’s recent study on the economic benefits of bicyclists on local business as key in “turning the neighbourhood” regarding making space for bikes in the already crowded Annex streetscape. He says almost 70% of the ward walks to work.

“It’s when you start looking at bike lanes simply as bike lanes and nothing else that you have problems. That is the same way some people look at highways as highways and nothing else. If you do that, you create conflict and you create enemies,” he says.

Vaughan says the cycling community should find its strength in numbers.

“The most important thing that you need politically is an overwhelming majority that buys into the plan. You can’t keep pitting everybody against everybody and making enemies with everyone because you don’t get any consensus, you just get a big loud debate. And you don’t get any resolution.” He adds, “This is one of the reasons the Bike Plan has been stalled for so many years.”

Vaughan says he is looking for consensus on certain streets in his ward. What about Richmond and Adelaide?

“I’m ready to have a mature conversation about Richmond and Adelaide, but simply as a car right-of-away, as it is now, it’s not working for the neighbourhood, socially, culturally or otherwise,” he says, adding that Denzil Minnan-Wong’s “plan” for a buffered bike lane came out of nowhere without any consensus or consultation with area citizens. (See our interview with Councillor Minnan-Wong on p.40 of volume 4, issue 1)

“Top-down decisions don’t work in this situation. I told him that we have people working on this and we will work with you, but he said, ‘No, I’m in charge of the works department and it’s my city, not your city.” Vaughan says there is a political dynamic at play where members of Team Ford have been “causing trouble” in other councillor’s wards, making sure they are too busy putting out fires to focus on big ticket items like the budget. “The downtown ‘pinkos’ are being taught a lesson,” he says.

Vaughan says that lesson is counterproductive when it comes to saving taxpayers’ dollars. “I’m not so concerned with how much we tax and spend. I’m concerned with generating a really great neighborhood that pays for itself and is functional. When you build a neighbourhood properly, people feel their needs are being met and they have a sense of belonging. When a neighbourhood is a destination, it generates the wealth you need to put the curbed lane in, for example. If you build a good destination the land values go up and you get that money back through development for those great streetscape improvements.”

Or, he says, you can keep having debates and piss everyone off and you’ll end up with no bike lanes.

On Saturday, June 25, 2011, Mountain Equipment Co-op will host the second MEC Bikefest Toronto, taking over the historic Distillery District to celebrate all things bike.

This family-friendly event encourages people to come celebrate and discover the many joys of cycling.

The Bicycle Commons is coordinating with BikeSauce and MEC to offer a massive free bicycle repair station with 20 “triage tents” set up where event attendees can bring their bicycles for tune-ups and minor repairs.

Park your bike with The Toronto Cyclists Union at their Bike Valet station and explore the entire Distillery District. Clinics will help you learn skills like riding in the city and teach you how to make repairs to your own bike. There’s a little something for everyone from commuting to road riding and mountain biking.

This year the event introduces youth seminars where children can learn the basics of bike maintenance and repair. To register for any of the clinics visit the MEC store at 400 King Street West on or before June 22. Event registration will be open on the day of the event though space is limited.

In addition to clinics and seminars there will be three free Group Rides open to all event attendees. Explore the nearby Don Valley on ride to Evergreen Brick Works where fresh pastry awaits your arrival, take a city ride along the waterfront or participate in a scavenger hunt hosted by Unlock the City.

MEC will have a large selection from their bicycle line on display and attendees will have the chance to test ride bikes. Many other local venders will also be on hand with bicycles, bags and accessories as well as many other bike-related goodness.

Stop by and say hello to the dandyhorse team as we’ll have a special subscription discount for all attendees and will be selling t-shirts ($25) and all back issues ($5 each). Our latest issue explores the many ways Bikes are Good for Business so stop by and pick up a copy.

Connect with thousands of bicycle-minded friends this Saturday, June 18, 2011 for the Bells on Bloor procession.

Starting at High Park (at the Bloor Street entrance), a pedal-powered wave of people on bikes will make its way to Queen’s Park to a chorus of bicycle bells. Celebrate bicycles, community and healthy, sustainable transportation while showing your support for safe bike lanes on Bloor… a police escort helps to ensure safety for all. Learn more about Bells on Bloor here.

Bloor/Danforth is an important street to the lives of many Torontonians and welcomes countless visitors every day. In our Spring 2011 issue of dandyhorse magazine we examine how Bicycles are Good for Business on Bloor.

Bloor Street defines the heart of Toronto. Literally. Bloor is a major east-west route that separates the business, cultural and historic core of the city from its edges. It remains more neighbourhood high street than highway; more community hub than expressway. Yet thoroughfare is how planners and politicians have often envisioned Bloor. In Volume 4, Issue 1, we reimagine Bloor through the eyes of cyclists, pedestrians, children, the differently abled, politicians and business owners as well as drivers.

We visualize what it would look like if the street served all of our community instead of largely serving the car. Our task has been made easier by groups such as Take The Tooker, which for six years has advocated for a bike lane the length of Bloor, and the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT), which has encouraged others to examine the impact of street design on all road users. And a lot is at stake. Dan Leeming, founding partner at The Planning Partnership, noted during the 2010 Complete Streets Forum, “Streets are 20-30% of an urban area – they’re publicly owned and should therefore behave in the public interest.”

In our Spring 2011 issue, we ride tandem with visually impaired riders, hitch our bicycles up to bike corrals in Bloor West Village and get an early look at the cinematic reincarnation of the “world’s most prolific bike thief.” We slow down to take a look at a car-free Annex, stopping to shop along the way. We welcome BIXI to Toronto, talk politics with Adam Vaughan and Denzil Minnan-Wong and investigate what really happened with Yorkville’s road redevelopment. A new mom tells us how to go carless with kids and we illustrate what a safer ride on the Danforth would look like. We realize the importance of riding your bike to work – whether you’re the CEO of a major bank or a cashier at The Big Carrot. We also learn a pretty lesson about reading and riding and imagine the West Toronto Railpath as a hub for velo-city – an elevated, pollution-free, rapid mobility system to take cyclists and skaters downtown and to the lake. We’ve got all this and more in one long, continuous, pothole-ridden, bike lane-hungry stretch of road.

We are asking: What would it be like if we made people the priority on Bloor-Danforth?

Ambitious? We hope so. “Successful cities didn’t nibble at the edge of change,” sustainable transportation consultant Geoff Noxon advised Toronto planners, policy makers and activists at the Complete Streets Forum. “They bit off more than they could chew and then came back for more.” So digest this and then think about how to remake your community.

On Sunday, June 12, 2011 Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina) Councillor Mike Layton and team are hosting a family-friendly scavenger hunt on bicycles. The event, Bike With Mike, starts and concludes at Christie Pits Park on Bloor Street West.

In anticipation of the event, dandyhorse had the opportunity to ask Councillor Mike Layton why two wheels are better than four.

dandyhorse: What is your commute?

Councillor Mike Layton: From Clinton, I travel east on College to Beverley, south to Dundas then east to Chestnut. My commute to work is about 2 km or 13 minutes. Easy.

dandyhorse: What change could improve your commute the most?

Councillor Mike Layton: My biggest pet peeve is parking in bike lanes. Especially delivery trucks during rush hour. If we could keep bike lanes sacrosanct, even just for rush hour, the ride would be much safer. Uneven road conditions is a problem along bike routes. What is the use of the bike lane if you need to weave into traffic because the bike lane is not passable? Snow piling up on the south side of the street in winter is also a problem.

dandyhorse: Your Bike with Mike event this Sunday in Christie Pits encourages participants to explore Ward 19 by bicycle. Why did you choose to use bicycles instead of walking or transit?

Councillor Mike Layton: We are trying to encourage cycling as a transportation option. I think most people already accept walking and transit as acceptable forms of transportation. We want them to think of cycling in the same way.

dandyhorse: Where did you learn to ride a bicycle?

Councillor Mike Layton: I learned to ride on the quiet streets of the Annex in the early 80s and in the parks around Bloor and Bathurst where I grew up. I really learned to road ride, growing up, on numerous cycling camping trips with my parents across Ontario. This is when my love of cycling really began. When you are cycling, you are able to take your surroundings in. But riding on those highways was dangerous, as riding on roads can be. So I’m not surprised many people are scared to go toe-to-toe with cars when there is no barrier.

dandyhorse: Of all the separated bike lane proposals, which one do you think would work best or, be most needed?

Councillor Mike Layton: As an east-west route, I like Richmond, but there are many driveways to consider and we need to find ways to accommodate everyone. I look forward to seeing a concept, and how it addresses these limitations. North-south, I still think University is viable and because of it’s great size and lack of driveways.

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dandyhorse staff will be attending the event and we’ll have our latest issue, Volume 4, Issue 1, for sale. (We’ll also be selling back issues for just $5 and dandy Ts for $20 an $25.) Be sure to stop by the dandy table!

A great big thank you to everyone who helped make dandyhorse magazine Volume 4, Issue 1 and our launch party such a success. Pictured above is Elizabeth (on the left with dandies Tammy and Amanda), winner of the Opus Cervin bicycle raffle. Infinite thank you to Outdoor Gear Canada for donating the raffle bike and to the tireless volunteers whose sweat and tears resulted in every lovely printed page of our new issue. Without our team of dedicated volunteers and our fantastic advertisers dandyhorse would still just be a dream.